Cervical collar with end-supported chin strap

• US 20040176713A1
• Filed: 05/23/2003
• Published: 09/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aspen Medical Products, LLC
• Original Assignee: W G Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Garth, Geoffrey, Patterson, Charles
• Granted Patent: US 7,141,031 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 602/18
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/055 Cervical collars
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/23 Cervical collars

Abstract

The cervical collar has three principal pieces: a back panel, a main collar body, and a chin piece. The chin piece is permanently attached to the main collar body and is only attached at its ends to the main collar body so that the center portion of the chin piece can adjust to chin configuration. The back panel engages behind the neck and is tightened with respect to the main collar body to properly support the patient'"'"'s head and protect the cervical spine. The chin piece adjusts to the patient'"'"'s chin configuration because it is sufficiently flexible and only supported away from the chin area. Each of the pieces has a foam cushioning layer.

Claims

1. A cervical collar comprising:

a main collar body configured to overlie the upper chest of a patient and extend over his shoulders substantially to the spinal plane;

a chin piece, said chin piece having ends and having a center therebetween and being made of flexible material, said chin piece being non-adjustably attached to said main collar body toward said ends of said chin piece and away from the center of said chin piece where said chin piece would engage under a patient'"'"'s chin; and

a back panel configured to engage the back of the neck of the patient, attachment structure for attaching said back panel to said main collar body so that said chin piece is unsupported away from said main collar body so that said chin piece can flex to accommodate the contours of the chin of the patient.

2. The cervical collar of claim 1 wherein each of said chin piece, main collar body and said back panel have padding attached thereto.

3. The cervical collar of claim 2 wherein said padding is foam polymer padding, said foam polymer padding having an exterior surface which can be engaged by a hook fastener.

4. The cervical collar of claim 1 wherein at least one of said main collar body and said back panel has flex tabs along the edge thereof so as to ease the force transition between said piece and the adjacent unengaged patient surface.

5. The cervical collar of claim 4 wherein some of said tabs are configured to have a larger cross section at the base of said tabs as compared to the tips of said tabs.

6. The cervical collar of claim 1 wherein said attachment structure for attaching said back panel to said main collar body is a hook-and-loop fastener engaging between said main collar body and said back panel so that said back panel can be tightened with respect to said main collar body to hold said chin piece in the chin-supported position.

7. The cervical collar of claim 6 wherein there is a front fastener and a back fastener on each side attaching said chin piece to said main collar body and said chin piece is unsupported between said front fasteners, said front fasteners being spaced sufficiently apart so that they are wider spaced than the chin width of the patient using the cervical collar.

8. The cervical collar of claim 1 wherein there is a front fastener and a back fastener on each side attaching said chin piece to said main collar body and said chin piece is unsupported between said front fasteners, said front fasteners being spaced sufficiently apart so that they are wider spaced than the chin width of the patient using the cervical collar.

9. The cervical collar of claim 8 wherein said front fasteners are no further forward than half the distance from the patient'"'"'s mandibular joint to the center of said chin piece.

10. A cervical collar comprising:

a main collar body configured to engage over the chest of a patient over his clavicle, said main collar body having ends which are positioned beside the patient'"'"'s neck at his cervical spine, a chest padding layer on said main collar body to cushion the force of said main collar body against the patient'"'"'s chest;

a chin piece formed of synthetic polymer material, said chin piece having ends and a center section between said ends, said chin piece being U-shaped and being configured to extend under the chin of the patient with its ends lying adjacent the ends of said main collar body, attachment structure attaching said ends of said chin piece to the ends of said main collar body leaving said center section of said chin piece between said attachment structure attaching the ends of said chin piece to the ends of said main collar body free to be shaped by the configuration of the patient'"'"'s chin, a padding layer on said chin piece; and

a back panel configured to engage around the back of the neck of the patient at his cervical spin, attachment structure between said back panel and said main collar body so that said back panel and said main collar body can be forcefully engaged against the patient to support the patient'"'"'s chin and substantially immobilize his cervical spine.

11. The cervical collar of claim 10 wherein said back panel carries a padding layer thereon to permit forceful engagement of said back panel.

12. The cervical collar of claim 10 wherein said back panel has flexible tabs thereon and said padding layer engages against said flexible tabs so that the amount of flexure of said flexible tabs indicates the engagement force of said cervical collar on the patient.

13. The cervical collar of claim 12 wherein said flexible tabs are of increasing cross section from their tips to the brace where they are integral with said main collar body to control the amount of bending of said tabs caused by pressure on said padding layer.

14. The cervical collar of claim 10 wherein there is an opening in said main collar body to provide access for tracheotomy, and there is a strengthening layer adjacent said opening to provide adequate strength around said opening for said main collar body.

15. The cervical collar of claim 11 wherein said padding layers are attached to said cervical collar by hook fasteners.

16. The cervical collar of claim 10 wherein said back panel is attached to said main collar body by means of hook-and-loop fasteners so that said back panel can be tightened into a selected position and retained in position by said hook-and-loop fasteners.

17. The cervical collar of claim 16 wherein a portion of said hook-and-loop fasteners for attachment of said back panel also serves attachment structure for attaching said main collar body padding thereto said main collar body.

18. The cervical collar of claim 10 wherein said chin piece is attached to said back panel by front and back fasteners on each side and said fasteners are rivets engaging through said polymer sheet material of said back panel and said chin piece.

19. The cervical collar of claim 18 wherein said attachment structure attaching said chin piece to said back panel comprises front and back rivets on each side and said attachment structure covers at least one of said rivets.

20. The cervical collar of claim 19 wherein said attachment structure between said chin piece and said back panel comprises rivets and said hook-and-loop fastener attaching said back panel to said main collar body covers both of said rivets on both sides of said cervical collar.